18:37
“So you are a king.” Pilate has missed the key point and focuses on what is of most concern to him. The only word that Pilate heard was “kingdom”. “You say that I am a king” (ESV), NKJV and NASB are probably right when they phrase this more strongly, “you say rightly/correctly that I am a king”. People need to recognise Jesus as king and to appreciate the nature of His kingship and His kingdom. Jesus was born to be king. This is the only direct reference to His birth in John’s gospel. Jesus then switches the emphasis to “truth”. Every philosophy or ideology that ignores or rejects God is based on a lie, it is not based on truth, and will therefore ultimately fail. Jesus is the truth, and everyone who is of the truth will listen to Jesus.
18:38
Pilate is just about to prove that he is not “of the truth” when he makes the statement “what is truth?”. This is the cynical response of the world. A person who does not want to face up to the truth denies that there is any such thing. At the same time Pilate knew that the Sanhedrin were talking nonsense and were only out for their own politico-religious ends. So Pilate tells them that he finds no guilt in Jesus.
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